"Trabzon and its Sumela" Trabzon Ili by rjaparidze

Trabzon Ili Travel Guide: 151 reviews and 513 photos

Trabzon - Bayburt - Erzerum - Ardahan Trip

Trabzon was part of my Trabzon-Bauburt-Erzerum-Oltu-Karagol-Ardahan trip. There are not many travellers in these cities (except for maybe Trabzon)... And they are worth of Travel.

Aya Sofia church is a must see if someone is there. It is a nice church on the hill overlooking the sea.

One has to come there before 19.00. We came there after 20.00 and the guards refused entering it. Because of that we altered our plans and did not go to Sumela next day early morning. The Church opens at 10,00 (if I remember correctly)

Except for Aya Sofia Sumela Monastery is a really great place for visit. During the history of my travels I have not seen any place so beautiful as sumela.

Maybe monastery is not as great as I have thought, the nature amply compensates a long uphill travel to this place.

If someone traveles from the East, he should bear in mind that Sumela is before Trabzon. There are a lot of signs indicating how one has to get to that place, neverthless there was no sign on the main road where the road forks into Macka.

One has to be careful and look on the top of the building standing to the left that has some big SUMELA advertisement.

Going up by car to Sumela, in our case b a MIni Van, cost about 8 million TL (about 5-6 USD). There is also another fee of entering the monastery for Turks (and also students) and non-Turks -- 2 million and 5 million respectively.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Sumela -- Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful
Cons:Not many sightseeings besides Sumela and Aya Sofia
In a nutshell:Still a MUST SEE place because of Sumela

Last visit to Trabzon Ili: Jul 2004
Intro Updated Jul 28, 2004
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Reviews (5)

Sumela Things to Do (4)

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Sumela Frescoes Things to Do (4)

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Sumela Waterfalls Things to Do (4)

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Sumela Monastery Things to Do (4)

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Hotels (1)
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Comments (3)

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lillyia Sep 15, 2005 at 11:11 PM

Hi, very good photos! I would like totravel a bit more in this region. Smiles from Bulgaria :-)
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RUMISABUNCU Jun 5, 2005 at 11:10 PM

Your photos from Trabzon really nice thank you. I will put new photos from Black Sea when I visit there this year. Did you visit Antalya (Turkish Riviera )?
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hunterV Dec 10, 2004 at 11:30 AM

Gamarjoba, genatsvale! What a wonderful place! Greetings to the beautiful Georgia!